South Australian Legislation to Allow Driverless Cars on Australian Road is Illegal

South Australia is going to test driverless cars for use on roads in that state. This is premature. We have the hacking problems of "normal" vehicles to deal with, let along allowing potentially dangerous ones loose in Australia. There is also the important question of who is responsible if there is a collision involving a driverless car.

This is way too soon. The South Australian experiment will be the first in the southern hemisphere. Legislation is to be passed in state parliament on Thursday. It will allow testing on road with cars being driven by people. It is obvious that if there is an accident the insurance company of a normal vehicle will not pay out. It is common knowledge that insurance companies keep taking annual premiums when they know a legal problem exists which takes liability away from them - note the payouts refused in recent floods.

Wanting to be the first state to adopt new technology is stupid when such cars will be driving illegally with no insurance. If they can be used even in tests, everyone should be able to drive with no insurance.

There will be a High Court challenge to laws exempting testers from having to abide by design rules and the insurance obligations. Some road specifications are federal laws that states do not have jurisdiction to override.